If Red joined Team Rocket
by Jophied
Summary: This is my take on what would happen if Red had joined Team Rocket on the Nugget Bridge. The story starts off at Nugget Bridge and the first chapter is very slow but it will get better as more chapters are added I promise! This story is also influenced by a theory I saw a few years ago about what would've happened if Red had joined Team Rocket, so I am just expanding on that! Enjoy


Chapter 1: Joining Team Rocket

Finally, he had done it. He had defeated all the trainers on this bridge, including the weird guy at the end who had given him a free nugget.

"We could use someone like you in Team Rocket. What do you say?"

Red thought about it. He could get everything funded for him, as well as getting a lot stronger. This guy had no doubt that Red would be able to climb through the ranks quickly and considering how easily he had defeated the other Rocket grunts he had come up against, he was pretty certain of himself too.

"Why not?" Red replied

"Welcome to all of our new recruits!" A woman with red hair said, "my name is Ariana and I will be here to make sure you transition into fine members of Team Rocket."

Red looked around him. There were 8 other trainers.

"As you are aware," Ariana continued, "we have taken all of your possession's in order to go over them and make sure that no one within our ranks is a spy sent in by the police or anyone else to take us down."

Red was already aware of that. As soon as he had entered the warehouse in Celadon City, they had asked him to give them his bag as well as change his clothes.

"Now we will put you all up against each other in a Pokemon battle to see how strong you and your Pokemon are. These will be one on one battles and the person who comes out on top of the rest will immediately be put on the next mission. Now please, send out your chosen Pokemon."

Red watched as the trainers around him threw out their Pokemon. They were mostly basic Pokemon like Pidgey, Spearow and Rattata. However, Red noted that one person had sent out a Raticate. So, someone here was going to be some sort of a threat.

"Send out your Pokemon you lowly grunt!" Ariana yelled at Red.

Red looked at her before sending out his own Pokemon, a Charmeleon. Red saw an expression that looked like shock cross Ariana's face, but only for an instant. Her face went back to the cold expression it had when she had been talking to them.

"Let's get this show on the road."

"Charmeleon! Ember!" Red yelled

Charmeleon let loose a burst of flames, incinerating the opposing Spearow. It immediately fainted. Red looked across to see that the boy with the Raticate had also finished off his opponent.

"Well done grunts," Ariana said, "now let's see you fight for that spot in the next mission."

The boys looked at Red and laughed.

"Piece of cake," he said

Red just kept his stare. There was no way he would lose this battle.

"Let's go, trash." The boy said, sending out his Raticate.

Red gestured for Charmeleon to enter the battlefield. Charmeleon walked over and yawned. The other boy was obviously mad. He started yelling at Red for disrespecting him and telling him that he was going to beat Charmeleon so hard that even the Pokemon Center wouldn't save it.

"Raticate! Quick Attack!" The boy yelled, starting off the battle

Red said nothing and watched as the Raticate landed a direct hit on Charmeleon. Charmeleon didn't even flinch, instead it just looked at Raticate.

"Scratch." Red said

Charmeleon scratched Raticate, sending it backwards.

"Now ember."

Charmeleon let loose its flames on Raticate, knocking it out just like he had to the Spearow in the battle beforehand.

"Return Charmeleon." Red said as Charmeleon returned to its Pokeball.

The boy looked from Red to his Raticate, his mouth wide open, obviously shocked. Ariana smiled at Red.

"Well, it looks like you're full of surprises." She said

Red looked back at her, saying nothing.

"I guess we should get you to the rundown for the mission then."

Ariana walked away, gesturing for Red to follow. Red followed her through many hallways until they reached a room and Ariana gestured for Red to walk inside. Red walked inside and sat down, sitting away from anyone else.

"Alright squad, my name is Petrel and I will be telling you about this upcoming mission. For this mission we will be invading the house of a TM collector in Cerulean City. We will grab the TM, which contains the move Dig and then bring that back here before using the boss' gym leader status to clone the TM in order to give it out to all of our members."

The meeting went on for another 20 minutes as Petrel went through all the technicalities and plans for the mission.

"Alright, get a move on. Scram!"

The grunts all got up and began to move, getting ready to move out toward Cerulean City. As they walked through the Rocket base a man approached Red.

"My name is Archer." He said, "and I have been asked to escort you to the boss' room."

Red was shocked. Day one in Team Rocket and he had already been put on a mission, met 3 of the admins and now he was going to see the boss. He followed Archer down many flights of stairs before they reached a huge door, with two Rocket grunts standing guard.

"Alright," Archer turned to Red, "through here is the boss' room. The boss has never asked for a grunt to appear before him on their first day in Team Rocket so I'm honestly not too sure what he is going to ask of you but be prepared for anything."

Red nodded and turned. The grunts both turned and swiped some sort of card on either side of the door in unison. The door made a loud screech before slowly opening. When the doors had opened, Red started to walk inside. He felt very uneasy. What was the boss going to do? Was he going to get rid of Red already? Red started to formulate a plan in his head as to what to do if he was fired. He already knew where the base was so he could tell that to the police. If Team Rocket fired him, Red vowed that he would spend the rest of his career as a Pokemon Trainer taking them down. Finally, he walked up to a desk. Behind the desk was a chair, with its back facing him. He could see a pair of legs behind the chair, indicating to him that there was someone sitting in the chair. Red cleared his throat.

"So," a voice said, "you're the new grunt that stomped on all the competition in the grunt's contest."

Red said nothing as the chair spun around, revealing a man in all black sporting a big red R symbol on his breast pocket.

"My name is Giovanni and I am the boss of this underground organisation known as Team Rocket. What is your name?" Giovanni asked

"My name is Red." Red replied, trying to hide the fear in his voice.

"Well Red, it appears to me that you are indeed a very capable trainer, and you own a very rare Pokemon it seems."

"Do you mean my Charmeleon?"

"Indeed, I do. By any chance was that given to you by Professor Oak?"

Red gulped, he was very confused right now.

"There's no reason to be worried," Giovanni said, "I'm just curious."

"Yes, it was." Red replied

"Interesting. Now I had another question for you regarding something that was in your bag."

Giovanni stood up and grabbed something off of a pedestal behind him before putting it down on the desk in front of him.

"Now would you like to explain to me what you are doing with a Helix Fossil and how you came to have it?"

Red had completely forgotten that he had fought off Rocket Grunts for the fossil that was now in front of him.

"I was in Mount Moon when I fought this guy who had found two fossils."

"Two?" Giovanni asked

"Yeah, he had two. I beat him in a battle, and he agreed to let me take one of my choice."

"Interesting. I'm assuming you came across some of our own grunts when you were in Mount Moon then?"

"Yes" Red replied, his mouth suddenly going dry.

To Red's surprise Giovanni laughed.

"Well then, it appears that you are easily stronger than our lower level grunts." He said

Red smiled.

"Would you mind if I kept this Helix Fossil for research purposes?"

"Not at all." Red replied

"Good," Giovanni said, "Now I have a mission for you. I want you to go with the squad to Cerulean City. But instead of invading the house with them, I want you to go back into Mount Moon and steal me the other fossil that you left behind. Is that okay with you?"

Red nodded. Giovanni smiled and opened up one of the drawers in his desk.

"Here are some things that may help you." Giovanni said, pulling out many items from his desk.

"These items should only be used should you encounter any resistance," Giovanni said. "This first one is a big spore taken from a Vileplume. It has been genetically modified to paralyse a human for up to 10 minutes, giving you plenty of time to steal the fossil and escape. However, we only have a small supply of these so only use it if you absolutely have to."

Red nodded.

"Secondly, we have a phone. Only Rocket admins or higher are allowed to carry one, but for you I will make an exception as this is a very important mission. If you require assistance in your getaway, call the number that is in your contacts as G. That will send me an alert letting me know your location and I will send help your way." Giovanni handed the phone to Red, "and lastly, we have this. It is a smokescreen ball. Should you require help in your getaway just throw it at the ground and a smokescreen will immediately rise for a couple of seconds. This should be enough time for you to quickly escape from any dangerous situation. Oh, and I guess I should return your backpack."

Red received his backpack from Giovanni, putting all the items Giovanni had given him in the bag.

"Now go, and don't come back empty handed," Giovanni said, "or it won't be pretty for you."

Giovanni spun around in his chair to indicate that the conversation had ended. Red turned and began to make the long journey to Cerulean City.

Chapter 2: Mount Moon

Red stared at the entrance to Mount Moon. He had only been here a couple of days earlier, yet now he was back. Red sighed before entering inside the cave. Just as it had been a couple of days earlier, there were lights hanging up on the walls, illuminating the area. The distant cries of Zubat could be heard. As Red looked around, he could see Paras crawling across the floor and over rocks that seemed oddly symmetrical. Red immediately recognised these as Geodude. He walked deeper into the cave, hearing the cries of Zubat getting closer and closer. Finally, Red came up to the Super Nerd who he had defeated days earlier.

"Hey" Red said casually

The Super Nerd looked at him, obviously not expecting him to be back so soon.

"What are you doing back here?"

"I've come for your other fossil. Hand it over and I won't harm you."

"Don't be greedy," the Nerd said in frustration, "I already gave you one of my rare fossils and now you want the other one? Ridiculous!"

Red brought out his Pokeball, sending out Charmeleon.

"Do we need to defeat you again?"

The Nerd gritted his teeth, glaring at Red as he did so.

"Go! Magnemite and Grimer!"

"So, you're going to cheat." Red said, "Not a problem. Charmeleon! Ember!"

"Grimer! Block the Ember with Sludge! Then Magnemite use Thundershock!"

Grimer spat sludge toward Charmeleon's flames, putting them out completely. Then Magnemite's Thundershock came through. Red yelled at Charmeleon to dodge and then use Scratch. Charmeleon skilfully dodged and ran toward Magnemite. As predicted, Grimer stepped in to stop the attack from hitting Magnemite. Charmeleon sent Grimer flying back before hitting Magnemite with a close-up Ember, knocking it out. Red laughed, only an amateur would have made that move. Magnemite would've taken much less damage than Grimer had it attacked Magnemite with Scratch, but instead his Grimer got knocked away and Magnemite fainted.

"Grimer! Sludge!"

"Charmeleon finish this, use Metal Claw!"

Charmeleon's arm turned to metal as it ran toward Grimer. The sludge collided with Charmeleon's arm, causing no damage. Charmeleon ran through the sludge, hitting Grimer with the Metal Claw, once again sending it flying. When Grimer landed it had already fainted.

"Now, hand over the fossil."

"Never!" The Nerd yelled, returning his Pokemon to their pokeball before running away.

"Charmeleon, Ember."

Charmeleon sent its Ember past the Super Nerd, blocking him off from any exit. His only chance was to face back toward Red. Red walked up to the Super Nerd who tried to punch him. Red dodged the punch before returning one of him own, knocking the Nerd to the ground. Red reached for the Nerd's backpack to obtain to fossil, but he continued to put up a fight.

"Come out Pikachu." Red said, "use Thunderwave."

Pikachu appeared from its Pokeball, firing its Thunderwave at the Nerd, paralysing him briefly. Red grabbed the Nerd's backpack and stole the fossil. As he turned to walk away the Nerd recovered and started to stand up.

"You can't take that." He said

"Yes, I can," Red replied, "Charmeleon use Metal Claw.

Charmeleon hit the Nerd with a strong Metal Claw attack, knocking him out cold on the cave floor.

Red met up with the other Rocket grunts back in Cerulean City. They were all talking about the heist they had just accomplished.

"They had no idea we were even there!" One Grunt said

"Man, that guy was dumb." Said another

Red stayed silent and listened as they talked about how they had tricked the man from whom they had just stolen from. Suddenly, after a few minutes the lights went out, turning back on a few seconds later. Red and the rest of the Rocket grunts were surrounded by police.

"You're all under arrest for theft." One of them said

"We don't want any resistance from you." Another added

All the Rocket grunts froze. Red could feel the mood in the room immediately shift from happy and celebratory to worried and scared. The police began to move toward each Rocket member, handcuffing them. When they arrived at Red and began to handcuff him, Red stepped backward, sending out his Charmeleon.

"Charmeleon! Smokescreen!"

Charmeleon let out a smokescreen, giving Red enough time to escape. He was unable to save the rest of the grunts, but he did manage to grab the TM for Dig. Red ran out onto the street, there was nowhere for him to run. He decided to run toward Nugget Bridge. Red ran as fast as he possibly could. He could hear the distant shout of the police behind him. It was only a matter of time before they found him. Red ran through the route, ignoring all the trainers trying to challenge him. As he reached the end, he realised he was at a dead end. Red swore under his breath, before realising there was a lone house sitting on top of a small hill. Red made a break for the house. He opened the door and slammed it shut behind him.

"Hello?" He heard a voice say

Red said nothing. A Clefairy appeared from behind a doorway.  
"Hello?" He heard the voice again, it seemed to be coming from the Clefairy.

"Hi," Red said, "do you know who lives here?"

"I do" the Clefairy replied

"A talking Clefairy?"

"No. My name is Bill. I was doing an experiment and it went wrong, and now as you can see, I am a Clefairy."

Red looked at him, puzzled.

"Please, just go onto my laptop and press the button on the screen when I enter that machine over there."

Red looked over to the corner where the Clefairy has gestured to. He hadn't actually noticed but there was a machine there. It was connected to an identical looking machine. Red watched as the Clefairy named Bill entered one part of the machine, closing a door behind it. Red walked over to the laptop, pressing the button that Bill had told him about. The machine sprang to life, making a loud whirring sound. After a few seconds it stopped and both parts of the machine opened up. A Clefairy walked out of one, and a man appeared out of the other.

"That's better." The man said, smiling, "As I said before, my name is Bill. Thanks for helping me out. I like to try and understand Pokemon better and my methods can be a bit extreme."

"Apparently so," Red said, still a bit confused about what had happened.

"What brings you here?" Bill asked

"I'm actually running from someone. I was wondering if I could hide here until I can be sure they're gone, and I have backup."

"Well, I guess I owe you one." Bill said, leading Red to a trap door in the back room.

"Thanks" Red said, walking down the steps underneath the trap door.

Red walked down into an empty room. There was nothing in the room except for a few broken machines. Red looked around. He could see some writing on a few of the machines. They seemed to be labels of some sort. Red noticed that all of the machines looked similar to the one Bill had upstairs, however, these ones all read 'Mew Clone' with various different numbers. Bill must have been trying to make a clone of something and failed many times. But what was Mew? Red stopped. He could worry about that later. Right now, he had to escape from this place. He pulled out the phone that Giovanni had given to him, sending a message to the contact on his phone that Giovanni had told him would get him out of a tight situation should he need it. He heard the phone make a small beep and then a confirmation message came up saying the message had been sent. Red could hear people talking upstairs and walking around, it was obviously the police. Red's heart began to pound as he heard them enter the room above him. Had Bill ratted him out?

"I think there's something here!" He heard a voice yell

Red heard a bunch of footsteps begin to run into the room above him, and he heard knocking on the trap door above him.

"What is in here?" He heard one of the policemen yell to someone

"Why there is nothing" He heard Bill reply, "Just a whole bunch of failed projects, you're welcome to have a look, but I fear you won't find anything exciting."

One of the policemen groaned.

"Don't worry about it. You're just another crazy washed up scientist like Oak."

Red heard Bill laugh as the policemen seemingly walked out of the room. A couple of minutes later the trapdoor opened and Bill's face appeared.

"I assume that the policemen are the ones you were hiding from," Bill said

Red nodded.

"Well they're gone now. You can come out."

Red walked up the stairs, entering the room he had been in only 10 minutes earlier.

"I thought you ratted me out." Red said

"Nah, I have no respect for those policemen. They go into people's homes and smash everything up for the fun of it. I don't see any reason to help them."

"Fair enough." Red said relieved.

"So, what do you plan to do from here? The police will be all throughout Cerulean City looking for you and there's not any other way to escape from here without going through it."

Before Red could answer there was a knock at the door. Bill opened the door and Giovanni stood there.

"Giovanni?" Bill asked

"Hello Bill," he said, "have you thought any more on my offer?"

"My answer is still no. I will never help you again."

"Such a pity," Giovanni said, "but just in case. Take these tickets to a party on the S.S. Anne. The world's best Pokemaniacs will be there."

Giovanni put the tickets down on a table in the middle of the room. He looked at Red.

"Well, I guess it's time to go."

Red nodded and walked outside. He heard Giovanni and Bill talk for a bit longer before Giovanni walked back outside.

"You know I usually don't go out of my way to help a grunt like you, but I heard about everything that happened in Cerulean City and when you sent the signal I knew that you were in trouble and that you had my fossil. I was also surprised to see that you were at Bill's house, somewhere that I had been meaning to go so in the end it all worked out."

Red stayed silent as Giovanni sent out a Pidgeot and got on its back, gesturing for Red to do the same. Red got on the Pidgeot and they both flew up in the sky, arriving back in Celadon City in a matter of minutes.

Chapter 3: S.S. Anne

Once again, Red found himself inside Giovanni's office.

"I have an important mission for you." He said

"What is it?" Red asked

"We have received intel that the Rocket grunts who were captured in Cerulean City are being transported on the S.S. Anne to a high security prison in a far-off region. I would like for you to board the S.S. Anne during the party that will be going on tomorrow night."

Red looked at Giovanni.

"You must be wondering why I'm asking you and not someone else. The truth is, I see potential in you, and I want to see just how much you can achieve on your own without all these grunts dragging you down. You're stronger than most, you've proven that. But also, there's one more thing. I would like for you to continue to collect the gym badges. There is a gym in Vermillion City that I want you to challenge. I know you haven't received the gym badge from Cerulean City, but you will have to wait a while for the commotion to die down before going there to challenge Misty."

Red nodded.

"I want you to leave as soon as this conversation is finished. Fight Lieutenant Surge, win his gym badge and attend that party tomorrow night, find out where our grunts are and try to set them free. If you have trouble, call my number again and I will send in one of our admins."

Giovanni reached into his desk, pulling out a single ticket for something.

"This is your access onto the S.S. Anne. Show this when you arrive, and they will let you on board. My guess is that the grunts will be below the ship so try to get there as soon as you are let in."

Giovanni passed the ticket to Red before turning away in his chair.

"Now go."

Red walked all the way from Celadon City to Vermillion City, finally arriving as the sun was about to set. He walked up to the gym doors when a tall muscular man stood in his way.

"What do you want?" The man asked

"I'm here for a gym battle against the leader, Lieutenant Surge."

"You think a pipsqueak like you is going to be able to defeat me? I fought in the great Kanto war where electric type Pokemon saved my life. Ever since, my life has been dedicated to training electric types and becoming the strongest electric type trainer ever."

Red shrugged.

"But you're still a gym leader, and I'm still a challenger. So, does that mean I can have my match now?"

Surge sighed.

"Yes. Follow me."

Red followed Surge through the gym until they arrived at a battlefield. Surge turned to Red.

"This is where we will battle. It will be a one-on-one battle and the first Pokemon to faint loses. Is that acceptable?"

Red nodded, reaching for his Pokeballs. Surge walked across to the other side of the battlefield.

"I'll send my Pokemon out first. Go Raichu!"

Raichu appeared on the battlefield. It had obviously been well trained, it looked much healthier than a regular Raichu, as well as a lot tougher. It had a confident look in its eyes, something it must have got from winning many tough battles, and maybe even from fighting in the war. Red grabbed Charmeleon's pokeball.

"Go! Charmeleon!"

"That's not a Pokemon you see every day," Surge noted

"It's no ordinary Charmeleon either," Red replied, "Charmeleon! Ember!"

Charmeleon let forth a burst of flames.

"Raichu! Thunderbolt!"

Raichu countered Charmeleon's ember with a thunderbolt, colliding with the attack mid-air, stopping the attack all together.

"Now! Mega Punch!"

"Metal Claw Charmeleon!"

Both Pokemon ran at each other, their powerful moves colliding.

"Smokescreen!"

Charmeleon spat out its smokescreen, covering the battlefield in haze.

"Scratch!"

Red heard Raichu wail as Charmeleon's attack obviously landed. Surge yelled something that Red couldn't hear. Straight after, Charmeleon came flying from the haze. The smokescreen died down and Raichu stood tall, a cocky grin on its face.

"Thunderbolt!"

"Charmeleon! Get up and dodge it!"

Charmeleon tried to get up but it wasn't fast enough. The thunderbolt hit Charmeleon directly.

"Mega Punch!"

Raichu ran toward Charmeleon.

"Charmeleon! Metal Claw!"

Charmeleon countered just in time with its metal claw.

"Scratch!"

Charmeleon held off Raichu's mega punch attack with its metal claw, while attacking with its scratch with the other arm. Raichu was knocked back a few inches before Charmeleon followed through with its metal claw, sending Raichu further back.

"Finish this with Ember!"

Charmeleon spat its flames at Raichu once again. The attack hit Raichu directly, sending it flying back into the wall behind Surge. Raichu hit the wall and landed hard on the ground. Raichu began to get up.

"Raichu! Thunderbolt!"

Raichu started to use its thunderbolt attack but as it charged its attack it burnt out, falling to the ground. Raichu had fainted. Red returned Charmeleon to its pokeball, as Surge returned Raichu to its own pokeball. The two trainers walked toward each other.

"Well you definitely surprised me," Surge said, "and as a token of that you will receive the Vermillion City gym badge. Congratulations!"

Red smiled, taking the gym badge from Surge, muttering his thanks before leaving the gym and heading for the Pokemon Center for the night.

Red woke up in the middle of the night. In the distance he could hear someone yelling.

"Hurry up! We don't have time for you to be slow!"

Red looked out the window of his small room and was shocked. Walking through the city he could see the silhouettes of his fellow Rocket grunts. They were being dragged along, all tied together. Some of them were limp, not even moving, being carried by other grunts.

'They must be taking them to the S.S. Anne,' Red thought to himself. But there wasn't much Red would be able to do right now. If he went out into the street to try and free the other Rocket grunts he would be captured for sure and forced to join them in the prison far away from here. Red tried to roll over and go back to sleep but all he could hear was the shouting of guards and the screams of his fellow Rocket grunts as they were obviously being beaten and abused. Finally, Red fell asleep.

Red woke up late in the afternoon. He had slept all morning. All Red could think about was the bloodcurdling screams he had heard from his fellow Rockets the night before, and he remembered watching them being dragged through the streets, carrying those who couldn't stand for themselves. Red knew that most people despised Team Rocket, but the way his fellow grunts had been treated was just cruel. Most people didn't understand what the true value of being a member of Team Rocket was. The Kanto government was corrupt and cruel. The president and champion of Kanto, Lance, was a fraud. He had come in after the war, claiming himself as the new champion and as a Dragon master, when most of his Pokemon were just flying types, not even dragons. Red vowed that one day he would help Team Rocket take down Lance and the rest of the Elite Four. An alarm clock rang and Red realised he had been lost in thought. The party was starting in 30 minutes. Red quickly changed into his old clothes, the ones he had been wearing when he had left Pallet Town. The Team Rocket uniform was too obvious and if he tried to enter the ship wearing it, he would be captured immediately.

30 minutes later, Red arrived at the S.S. Anne. The boat was huge up close, Red had never seen something so big in his life.

"Ticket please" The guard said to Red

Red showed him his ticket and walked on board the ship. Inside the ship everything was lit up. People were all walking around wearing fancy clothes. The women wore long sparkly dresses, showing off their class, while the men walked around in many different types of suits. Some were even made from Pokemon skin. Several boys and girls walked around, carrying food and drinks around to everyone. Red saw a few kids running around or showing off their Pokemon. Red noticed that some of the richer kids had rarer Pokemon. He saw a Charmander and a Squirtle having a playful battle. Red looked around, looking for anywhere that he would be able to find the Rocket grunts. He found a set of stairs leading upstairs, and because they were the only stairs he could find, he decided to walk up.

"Woah. This is VIP only." A guard said stepping in his way.

"The deck is off limits to anyone who does not have a VIP ticket. We have very wealthy and powerful people up here." A second guard added

Red pulled out his ticket, checking to see if Giovanni had someone managed to snag a VIP ticket. To Red's surprise, he had. He showed the ticket to the guards.

"Well, you don't look like much, but I guess we have to let you through." The first guard said

The guards stepped aside and gestured for Red to walk past. The only thing Red could think about was how Giovanni must have managed to get this ticket. Had he stolen it? Or had he actually paid for it? Red's thoughts were immediately put on hold when he stepped out onto the deck. When the guards had said they had some powerful people here, they weren't lying. Lorelei, Bruno and Agatha of the Elite Four were all on the deck, mingling with other people on the deck. The rest of the people on the deck were either very well-known trainers who had previously been members of the Elite Four, or very wealthy. Agatha spotted Red, giving him a strange look as if to say, 'what are you doing here?" Red shrugged. He had met Agatha multiple times back in Pallet Town. She was an old friend of Professor Oak's and would often visit him in her spare time. Although Red had never really spoken to her, she definitely knew who he was, and he definitely knew who she was.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A voice yelled from above the deck, "I am your captain, and today I will be hosting the world's biggest party aboard this very ship. As soon as the party has finished, we will depart for our trip around the world."

Everyone on the deck cheered, obviously looking forward to their holiday.

"Please enjoy your time on this ship and try not to go overboard."

The captain walked away, and music began to play loudly. Red decided to leave the deck and go back down to the main room. While back in the main room, Red noticed a door that the waiters were entering and exiting from. This was obviously the door to the kitchen, but Red's curiosity took him there anyway. As he moved, he noticed one of the rich kids eyeing him suspiciously but thought nothing of it. Red entered the kitchen and immediately a whole array of different aromas hit him. His mouth began to water as he realised, he hadn't eaten all day. Red snuck around the kitchens, although it didn't really seem like the cooks cared, stealing food from random plates because 'why not?' he thought, 'I'm a criminal now.' On the other side of the kitchen, Red reached another door which he assumed was used for wastage, so naturally, he decided to explore. He walked through the door, descending many flights of stairs until he was far under the ship. As Red walked further, he could hear the faint sounds of voices talking. As he walked, the talking got louder and louder until Red finally reached the place where the voices were coming from. Big iron bars surrounded Red on either side, and as he looked inside, he realised this was where the grunts were being held. The grunts went quiet until one of them noticed him.

"He's the one who escaped." The grunt said

As all the grunts began to recognise who he was, he saw their faces light up. They must have known that he had taken the TM back to Giovanni, but more importantly, that he had come back for them. They all smiled at him, obviously happy to see him.

"They took our Pokemon." One of them said, "So that we wouldn't be able to escape. They are being kept in the captain's quarters."

Red looked at the grunt who had spoken. 'Damn,' he thought, 'now I will have to go back above the ship and into the captain's quarters.'

"Let me get you out of here first." Red said to them, "Then we can worry about your Pokemon."

Just as Red said that they heard a massive bang behind them. Someone must have entered to bring down the wasted food. Either that, or they had sent someone to check on the prisoners. Red heard footsteps getting closer and closer until the person was fully in sight. It was the rich kid who had been staring at Red earlier.

"What are you doing here?" He asked

"I could say the same to you." Red replied

"I knew something was off about you. You seemed too… ordinary. No one like you is ever invited onto this ship so I figured something was off. And now I see that you are collaborating with Team Rocket. I'm going to take you down and hand you into the authorities."

The boy grabbed a pokeball from his waist, sending out his Pokemon. The boy grinned as his Pokemon appeared.

"This Squirtle was given to me as a gift from my father. He bought the egg from a breeder somewhere overseas and then gave it to me. This Squirtle has been with me ever since it was born, and we have grown stronger together every day."

Red grabbed his pokeball.

"Touching story," he said, "but I'm going to destroy you. Go Pikachu!"

Pikachu appeared, staring at Squirtle, obviously excited to finally be in a battle after so long.

"Squirtle! Hydro Pump!"

"That's a strong move." Red said, impressed, "but still not going to help you. Pikachu! Double Team!"

Pikachu quickly multiplied itself, making it impossible to correctly guess which one was the real Pikachu.

"Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu unleashed a powerful thunderbolt, hitting Squirtle directly and knocking it out in one hit.

"Really? That's all you've got?" Red asked, returning Pikachu to its pokeball.

Red walked over to the boy.

"Your Squirtle doesn't deserve to be with such a weak and pathetic trainer. Hand it over to me."

"No!" The boy yelled.

"You have one chance. Hand it over and I'll let you leave without a scratch."

"No, you will never take my Squirtle."

Red punched the boy, knocking him off his feet. The boy hit the ground, hard. As the boy tried to stand up, Red kicked him, knocking him back down. Red bent down punching the boy in the face again, breaking his nose. Blood sprayed from the boy's nose, and Red's hand started to bleed. Red continued to punch the boy, spraying more and more blood everywhere. As he continued to punch, the crowd of grunts behind Red began to cheer. They started chanting his name. Red punched the boy one final time, knocking him out. Red grabbed the boys pokeball, claiming the Squirtle for his own. Red stood up and walked back to the bars holding the grunts captive.

"Go Charmeleon!" He said, "use Ember and burn the bars."

Charmeleon used ember on the bars, heating them up. Red then sent out Squirtle to use water gun and cool the bars back down, before making Charmeleon use metal claw to break the bars. A few minutes later all the grunts were free.

"Let's go get our Pokemon," one of the grunts said walking toward the kitchens.

Another grunt rushed and held him back.

"Are you stupid?" The grunt asked, "if you walk out there, we will be caught and brought back here. I suggest we take what we can and leave using the emergency exit just down the corridor."

The other grunt started to argue before Red chimed in.

"I'll get your Pokemon. I already planned to anyway, and I've been seen at the party, so it won't seem to suspicious." He said, "you guys all escape and I'll meet you back at headquarters."

It took a bit more arguing back and forth but finally the grunt decided to trust Red and let him retrieve the Pokemon. Red parted ways with the grunts, walking back toward the kitchen. Red emerged from the tunnel underneath the kitchens, casually walking through. No one seemed to notice that he had walked in and out, they were too busy cooking and rushing around. Red walked back into the main room and toward the stairs. He heard a woman talking to one of the guards.

"I can't find my boy anywhere," she said, "he said he was just going for some air but when I went outside the guard said no one had come outside."

Red smirked a little as he heard that. He reached the steps and began to walk up them, showing the guards his ticket. However, instead of going out onto the deck this time, Red walked up another flight of stairs to where he assumed the captain's quarters would be. Red walked through a door at the top of the stairs and to his delight, discovered that he was correct. To add to his delight, he saw that the captain wasn't in the room either, meaning this would be easy for him. In the corner of the room was a box full of pokeballs. These were obviously the pokeballs that had been confiscated from the grunt's downstairs. Red approached the box and picked it up.

"What are you doing?" A familiar voice asked from behind Red.

Red turned around a found himself face-to-face with the captain.

"No one is allowed up here, and those pokeballs are property of the Pokemon League, no one is to touch them."

"First of all, these pokeballs belong to my buddies and secondly, if you want them back you will have to fight me for them."

"Fine," The captain answered, "I will take you down with my famous cut technique. Go Scyther!"

Red grabbed his Charmeleon's pokeball, sending it into the battle against Scyther.

"Scyther! Fury Cutter!"

Scyther hit Charmeleon with a direct fury cutter attack. Charmeleon snorted as the attack did barely any damage to it.

"Ember!"

Charmeleon unleashed its flames at Scyther. Scyther tried to dodge the attack but the captain's quarters were too small for it to effectively dodge.

"Fury Cutter again!"

Scyther attacked once again with fury cutter, damaging Charmeleon this time as it cried out in pain.

"Now! Cut!"

Scyther followed up its attack with cut, once again landing a direct hit on Charmeleon. Charmeleon flew into the captain's desk, knocking it on its side. Everything on top of the desk was sent flying.

"Charmeleon! Metal Claw!"

"Scyther! Cut!"

The two attacks collided. Both Pokemon held themselves, trying to gain control and land their attack.

"Ember!"

Charmeleon let out an ember, hitting Scyther directly in the face. Scyther squealed, falling to the ground and fainting.

"No! My prized Pokemon!" The captain yelled.

Red kicked the captain's right knee. The captain screamed as his knee was shattered and he fell to the floor.

"Scratch Charmeleon."

Charmeleon scratched the captain in his face, drawing blood. The captain continued to scream. Red walked out of the captain's quarter, walking down the stairs.

"Hey!" a guard yelled at Red

"He's got the pokeballs! Get him!"

Alarms started to go off and the guards ran toward Red.

"Charmeleon! Smokescreen!"

Charmeleon let out a smokescreen, making it impossible for anyone to see Red. Red grabbed the pokeball for his Pikachu, sending it out.

"Pikachu! Thunder Wave!"

Pikachu let out a thunder wave. He heard the guards yell as they were hit. That would paralyse them for a few seconds. Red sprinted down the stairs, through the main area and toward the exit. Charmeleon and Pikachu ran next to him. As he ran through the main area, he heard a lot of people gasp and look at him. When he reached the exit, the guard tried to stop him, but Charmeleon hit the guard in the face with metal claw, knocking the guard off his feet. Red continued to run until he was far away from Vermillion City so that no one would find him anytime soon. Only once he was sure he was safe did he grab his phone and dial Giovanni's number to ask to be picked up. A few minutes later a Pidgeot arrived at Red's location. Red got on the Pidgeot and made the short trip back to Celadon City where he entered the Team Rocket headquarters and walked down to Giovanni's room.

Chapter 4: Pallet Town

"Well done," Giovanni applauded, "I never thought a grunt would be able to make such an impact on Team Rocket in just his first few days. Thank you for saving all the other grunts and reclaiming their Pokemon. We heard about the commotion that went on in the ship. The Captain as well as a boy around your age were both found, bloodied and beaten. This has all been blamed on Team Rocket, but considering our grunts escaped it's not too difficult to come to that conclusion."

Red said nothing.

"You may have the day off but make sure you are here by sundown. I will lend you one of the service Fearow's as a reward so that you may go anywhere you want in the Kanto region, but just for the day. I would recommend not wasting this opportunity."

Red nodded and muttered his thanks, leaving Giovanni's office and heading toward where the Fearow were kept. Red knew exactly what he was going to do.

Red landed his Fearow just outside his house in Pallet Town before going inside to say hi to him Mum.

"Red! You've come home!" She said excitedly, giving him a huge hug.

Red smiled. He hadn't been home in a long time, and it was good to see his Mum.

"How's your journey going?" She asked

"It's good," Red replied, "I've obtained gym badges from the Pewter City Gym and Vermillion City Gym."

"What about the Cerulean City Gym?"

"It was closed due to a bunch of Team Rocket commotion."

Red's Mother paused for a moment before speaking again.

"Have you encountered Team Rocket before?"

Red stopped. He definitely wasn't about to tell her he was a part of Team Rocket, not yet at least.

"No," he finally said, "I try to stay as far away from them as possible, which is why I didn't fight against the Cerulean Gym, I'm waiting for the Team Rocket commotion to die down."

Red's Mum looked very pleased upon hearing that news.

"You should go see Professor Oak and show him how you're doing. He'll be very pleased to hear from you; I don't think he has had much contact with Blue since you both left for your journey."

"That sounds like a good idea. I wanted to go to Professor Oak's lab anyway. I'll probably have to leave straight after though, so I guess I'll see you later."

"Bye! Be safe!"

Red waved to his Mum before shutting the door to his home and walking toward Professor Oak's lab. Oak's lab was the real reason Red had come back to Pallet Town. Red began to think about the day he first started his journey. He had arrived at Oak's lab with Blue. He then met his partner Charmander, and Blue met his partner Squirtle. There had been another Pokemon there that day, Bulbasaur. Neither of the trainers had chosen Bulbasaur, and no other trainers had come that day to pick it up. Red arrived at the lab and walked inside.

"Hello?" he asked

"Who is it?" He heard the familiar voice of Professor Oak ask

"It's Red."

Professor Oak's head appeared from behind a massive bookshelf.

"Red!" He said excitedly, "What brings you back to Pallet Town?"

"I just wanted to say hi to Mum while I had some time and thought I'd drop by here as well."

"Well I must say it is very good to see you. I haven't spoken to Blue much since you both left for your adventure. The only time he talks to me is when there's a massive Team Rocket problem."

"Blue has been fighting Team Rocket?" Red asked

"Yes, he has. Have you?"

"No."

"Smart decision. Blue is reckless. Those Team Rocket grunts are ruthless, I would hate to see you, or Blue get hurt by them, or even worse, working with them."

Red had to hold back a laugh. If only Professor Oak knew the truth.

"So, what's new since I left?" Red asked

"Nothing exciting," Oak responded, "Pallet Town is a pretty quiet and peaceful town, so no one really bothers us. I saw Agatha the other day, she invited me to go to some party with her on board of some ship, but I refused, later seeing that Team Rocket had attacked it. The only thing that seems kind of exciting though is that a girl is coming by tomorrow to pick up the Bulbasaur that you and Blue didn't pick so finally it will have a trainer."

"That's exciting for her," Red said, "She'll get to experience everything that I have experienced throughout my journey."

"Exactly!"

"However," Red said suddenly, "I have other plans."

"Wha-"

Red punched Oak in the side of his head, knocking him over.

"Hey!" He yelled

Red ran toward the back of the room, to the table where Bulbasaur's pokeball was sitting. He picked it up.

"Bulbasaur is mine now."

"Red! What is going on!" Oak yelled

Red ripped off his jacket, showing the black clothing underneath with a massive red R written across the chest.

"I guess I forgot to mention that I'm a criminal now."

Red sent out Charmeleon and forced it to use Smokescreen. Red used it to quickly run through the back of the lab and hop on his Fearow. When Oak emerged from his lab, Red was already too far away. As Red flew toward Celadon City, he felt his phone ring.

"Hello?" Red asked

"Red. This is Giovanni. I need you to fly to Lavender Town and help the grunts there with a mission. Once you have completed that mission, come straight back to headquarters. Giovanni out."

He hung up.

"I swear these grunts can't do anything on their own." Red said to himself

Red landed in Lavender Town. The town seemed quiet except for distant shouts. Probably Team Rocket, Red thought. He walked toward where the shouting was coming from. When he arrived at where the shouting was coming from, he realised he was correct, it was Team Rocket.

"What's going on?" Red asked

One of the grunts turned to him and answered.

"We're trying to collect this baby Cubone. They are very rare and worth a fortune, but this Marowak keeps getting in our way."

"Step aside." Red said, "Go Squirtle!"

Red sent out his Squirtle. Marowak turned toward him, an angry expression on its face.

"Squirtle! Bubblebeam!"

Squirtle sent a flurry of bubbles toward Marowak, hitting it head on. Marowak flinched but then quickly recovered, charging at Squirtle with its bone in its hand. It landed a direct attack on Squirtle. Squirtle fell over, taking massive damage. This Marowak was obviously very strong. It charged at Squirtle again.

"Withdraw!" Red yelled

Squirtle withdrew into its shell as Marowak landed a direct hit on it with its bone.

"Water Gun!"

Squirtle appeared from within its shell and fired a torrent of water in Marowak's face. Marowak went flying through the air, but before it landed it threw its club directly at Squirtle. Hitting Squirtle and knocking it out. Marowak was also knocked out by the attack.

Red returned Squirtle to its Pokeball and walked over toward the Cubone, getting ready to catch it. Red picked Cubone up in his hands before he felt a massive pain go through his head. He fell over. Marowak stood on top of him, club in hand, hitting him over and over again.

"Catch the Cubone!" Red yelled.

One of the grunts held up a gun, firing a net out of it with sharp metal on the ends of it, to stick into any surface. Marowak threw its club to stop the net, catching it like a boomerang and continuing to beat Red. Red tried to stand up but Marowak continued to hit him with the club. Cubone started crying. Red reached for an empty Pokeball, throwing it at the Cubone. The Pokeball hit the Cubone and absorbed it. Marowak yelled and ran at Red in rage. It hit Red over and over with its bone.

"You caught it!" Red heard someone yell. He looked over and saw that the pokeball he had thrown at Cubone had stopped shaking. This made Marowak even more mad and it screamed. Red ran to pick up the pokeball but Marowak threw its club, knocking the pokeball out of Red's hand and sending out Cubone. Marowak began bashing the pokeball, until it cracked and finally crumbled, releasing Cubone.

Red yelled in frustration. Running and tackling Marowak in frustration. He took the club from Marowak and started beating it with its own club. Marowak howled in pain as Red continued to beat it over and over. Red saw Marowak's skull begin to crack so he began to beat its head until the skull finally came off.

"How dare you!" Red yelled

He grabbed the net from next to him, gripping the metal spike and forcefully brought it down on Marowak's head. The Pokemon went limp. Cubone started crying again, but this time it ran away as well.

"Catch it you idiots!" Red yelled

He tried to stand up, but the adrenaline was leaving his body and he was feeling tired, as well as the injuries he had sustained from multiple blows in the head from Marowak. Red's vision went blurry and the last thing he saw was Cubone run into an old man's arms before he blacked out.

Red woke up days later in the Team Rocket headquarters. The first thing he noticed was his massive headache.

"Thank goodness you're finally awake."

Red saw that it was a grunt who had said that.

"How long was I out?" Red asked

"6 days."

Red immediately felt a rush of panic.

"What happened to the Cubone?" He asked, standing up.

As Red stood up, he felt a massive pain in his head and immediately became dizzy.

"An old man called Mr Fuji took the Cubone and ran into the Pokemon Tower. Our grunts have been trying to reach him but the ghost of the Marowak that you killed keeps scaring them away. As well as the fact that no one can actually see any of the Pokemon there without a Silph Scope."

"I need to go get that Cubone." Red said as he ran toward the door

Almost immediately, his head began to throb, and his vision went blurry. Red blacked out again.

The next time Red woke up, Giovanni was by his side.

"Red, I need you to do something."

Red looked at Giovanni, saying nothing at all in case his headache came back.

"We have received intel that your rival Blue has received 4 gym badges. If he continues to get this strong, Team Rocket may be in trouble. It would be quite reckless and potentially dangerous for you to go all out and let him know you're a part of Team Rocket right now, so what we want you to do is continue to collect all of the gym badges, starting with the Cerulean Gym."

"Are you serious?" Red asked

"Yes," Giovanni replied, "we need you to obtain badges from Cerulean, Celadon and the Fuschia City gyms. We have Saffron City on lockdown but no doubt anytime soon the Elite 4 or Blue will be strong enough to come and ruin that, so we need you to become strong enough to defeat Sabrina before anyone else is. As a result, you will have free reign to do what you want in the Kanto region and we will only call you in if something urgent comes up."

Giovanni walked away, leaving Red all alone. Red grinned before quickly getting up from his bed. He still had a small headache, but not big enough to stop him from going out. He rushed to the office where all the Fearow's were kept before grabbing one and setting out to Cerulean City.

Chapter 5: The Gym Challenges

Red arrived at the Gym in Cerulean City, prepared to finally have his gym battle against Misty.

"I'm sorry sir but the Cerulean Gym is closed for now. Misty has decided to take a break as the Gym Leader after all the Team Rocket commotion went on a couple of weeks ago, she is expected to reopen the gym tomorrow." A man said from behind Red.

Red turned around and saw that it was the usual guy who was always standing out the front of Pokemon Gyms.

"Well I guess I'll just have to wait." Said Red

"Wait I recognise you." The man said

Red looked at him, puzzled.

"You're Red from Pallet Town right?"

"Uhhh yeah that's me," said Red, "Do I know you?"

"I wouldn't expect you too, it's been a very long time since we saw each other. I used to be one of Professor Oak's aides about 6 years ago. I can remember you and Blue running around Pallet, pretending to be Pokemon trainers. I guess that has finally become a reality then."

"If I'm honest, Blue and I haven't really talked much over the past few years, I think he started hating me for some reason."

"I'm not too sure why that would be," the man responded, "although, unrelated, there was another trainer who just tried to get into this gym, she started her. Pokemon journey about a week ago in Pallet Town. She told me how she was supposed to pick up a Bulbasaur from Professor Oak, but the day before he had been robbed. He hasn't been able to speak since the incident, but he did give her a Pokemon that he had been researching."

"Where is this trainer?" Red asked

"I believe she went to do some sightseeing up past Nugget Bridge."

Red turned and began to run toward Nugget Bridge, "thanks!"

Red let out a sigh of relief as he ran toward Nugget Bridge. Oak was unable to speak of what had happened so his identity as a Team Rocket member would remain a secret for a little while longer, and now Red was going to meet the girl who was supposed to have obtained his Bulbasaur. It was funny how things worked out. Red walked the familiar path to Bill's house, this time stopping to challenge all the trainers in order to raise his Bulbasaur and Squirtle. While challenging the trainers, Red's Squirtle evolved into Wartortle. Finally he reached Bill's house and saw a girl leaving the house. Red ran up to her.

"Hi," he said, "I'm Red. Are you by any chance the girl who received a Pokemon from Professor Oak?"

The girl looked at him for a second, "Yes that's me, my name is Green."

"I started my journey in Pallet Town too, along with my Rival Blue. I hear you're doing the gym challenge."

"Yes I am, are you?"

"Yes. I've collected two badges already and I'm waiting for Misty to reopen her gym so I can have a battle. I plan on battling her the second the gym reopens." Red said

"Not a chance," Green responded, "I'm battling her first and there's nothing you can do to change that."

"How about we battle for it," Red suggested, "the winner gets to battle Misty first once the gym reopens."

"Sure, sounds good to me."

Red smiled, she was going to regret that decision.

"We'll have a one-on-one battle, does that seem fair?" Green asked

"Sounds fair to me, let's battle."

The battle started, Red sent out Bulbasaur, the exact same one that Green was supposed to own.

"Wow where did you get that?" Green asked in amazement, "I was supposed to get one from Professor Oak, but it was stolen the day before."

Red almost laughed out loud, how could she be so gullible, surely, she could put two and two together and realise that this was that exact same Bulbasaur.

"I got it from an egg." Red lied

"Wow that's cool! But I have an even cooler Pokemon. Go! Eevee!"

The battle was very one-sided. Green's Eevee didn't stand a chance against Bulbasaur, and then when it evolved into Ivysaur, the match was over after one more attack. Red laughed as he returned his Ivysaur and left Green standing where she was, shocked. The next day he went into Misty's Gym and defeated her Staryu and Starmie easily with his Ivysaur. He then flew to Celadon City and challenged the Gym Leader there too. His Charmeleon swept the gym without breaking a sweat. He had finally caught up to Blue in the number of Gym Badges he had, but he wasn't done quite yet. He flew down to Fuschia City and challenged the Gym Leader Koga. The battle was tough and Red lost his Pikachu, Wartortle and Ivysaur, finally it was up to his Charmeleon to defeat Koga's Weezing.

"Charmeleon! Flamethrower!" Red yelled

"Weezing! Sludgebomb!"

The moves collided midair.

"Tackle!"

Weezing rammed into Charmeleon, knocking it into the wall behind Red.

"Looks like this battle is over." Koga said

"Not yet." Red said smiling

Koga's face went white as he saw what Red had just seen, the white glow surrounding Charmeleon and it changed shape, sprouting wings. The white light vanished and the Pokemon let out a massive roar.

"I don't believe it" Koga said

Red smiled, "looks like this gym battle is just about over. Charizard! Seismic Toss!"

Charizard flew toward Weezing with astonishing speed, lifting it up into the air.

"Weezing, tie this match! Use Selfdestruct!"  
Weezing exploded as Charizard threw it. The blast knocked Charizard into the roof, and then it dropped to the floor, landing with a loud bang. A dustcloud formed around Charizard.

When the dustcloud cleared, Red heard Koga yell out in disbelief. Standing right there, was Charizard. It roared triumphantly as Koga returned Weezing to it's Pokeball.

"Well, I guess I can't deny that you won." He said, "and as proof, you gain this badge."

Koga handed Red the badge of the Fuschia Gym. Red left the gym and headed back toward Celadon City to tell Giovanni what he had achieved.

Chapter 6: Silph Co.

Red arrived back at the Team Rocket headquarters in Celadon City, immediately heading toward Giovanni's room. When he arrived, Giovanni was nowhere to be found. Instead Ariana stood there.

"Red, I've been waiting for you. Giovanni and the other admins have gone on a mission to take over Silph Co. We have both been requested to go as well, however, first I am to promote you to a Team Rocket admin. Giovanni has been very impressed with you recently and feels you deserve to become an admin. Usually it takes years in Team Rocket to become an admin, but you have managed to become one in less than 3 months. Anyway, that's enough of that. We must report to Saffron City at once."

Ariana finished speaking and immediately left the room. He exited the Game Corner when a strange man walked up to him.

"Red?"

"That's me," Red replied

"I have been instructed to give you this coin case, please use it wisely. Giovanni wants you to use it to upgrade your team. Go to the prize shop and use the coins in this case to get yourself a brand new Pokemon."

"Okay," Red said suspiciously, "but who are you?"

The man quietly handed Red the coin case and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Well guess I'll never know." Red said to himself

Red entered into the building next to the Game Corner and walked up to the counter.

"Which Pokemon do you have?" he asked

The lady behind the counter smiled and listed off all the Pokemon that Red could choose. Red was tossing up between Porygon and Dratini, before ultimately deciding to go for Dratini. The lady looked at Red and a sudden realisation flashed across her face.

"Oh, my goodness! You're Red, aren't you?"

"Yes" Red responded

"I have been instructed to give you something special should you come in here."

Red looked at her, confused, as she turned around and grabbed a Pokeball.

"Here is your Dratini. Your boss G hopes you use it wisely."

"Thanks," Red said before exiting the building and heading toward Saffron City.

Red arrived at the Silph Co building. People were panicking and screaming as Rocket grunts rounded them up and took their Pokemon from them. Red's phone rang.

"Red, this is Giovanni, I am on the top floor, in the President's room, I ask that you join me immediately in case any Gym Leaders or Elite Four show up."

"Understood. I will make my way up." Red responded before hanging up.

Red made his way up through the Silph Co building. Using the warp tiles that had been installed to help him make his way up. Red entered a room through a warp tile and stopped.

"Well Red, Gramps told me you were a part of Team Rocket, but I didn't really believe it until now. You always were a little off weren't you Red? Well now I'm just going to have to beat you, and then stop your boss. After all, I don't think that someone like you could ever beat me, a trainer with 6 badges already."

Red smiled at Blue before silently grabbing one of his Pokeballs.

"Go Pikachu!" he yelled

"Go Pidgeot!" Blue responded

Both Pokemon appeared on the battlefield.

"Pidgeot! Quick Attack!"

"Double Team Pikachu!"

Pikachu quickly dodged Pidgeot's attack by creating multiple copies of itself.

"I'm not falling for that. Pidgeot! Hurricane!"

Pidgeot's Hurricane hit all the Pikachu copies, and sent the real one flying backward into the wall.

"Steel Wing!"

"Thunderbolt Pikachu!"

"Pidgeot dodge it!"

Pikachu sent its Thunderbolt through the air. Pidgeot dodged it before landing a direct attack on Pikachu.

"Now Pidgeot, finish it with Aerial Ace!"

Red paused, waiting until Pidgeot got close.

"Double Team!"

Pikachu once again made multiple clones of itself. Pidgeot smashed through one and straight into the wall behind it.

"Finish it with Thunderbolt!"

"Pidgeot dodge!"

Pikachu fired its Thunderbolt, hitting Pidgeot directly as it was still stunned from smashing into the wall. Pidgeot fainted.

"Pidgeot return. Go Rhydon!"

Blue's Rhydon appeared.

"Pikachu return. Go Wartortle!"

Red's Wartortle appeared from its Pokeball, ready to take on its opponent.

"Rhydon! Horn Drill!"

"Wartortle! Hydro Pump!"

Wartortle's Hydro Pump hit Rhydon directly, sending it flying backwards into the wall, making it faint.

Blue stood there, astounded.

"What is that power?" He asked himself

Blue returned his Rhydon to its Pokeball and Red started laughing. Blue turned and fell backwards in shock. Standing in the place if Wartortle, was a Blastoise.

"Thank you for helping me evolve my Wartortle. At least you're useful for something." Red said

"I'll still win!" Blue yelled angrily, "go Exeggutor!"

"Return Blastoise! Go Charizard!"

Once again, the battle was one sided, Blue and his Exeggutor were too weak, Charizard knocked them out in one hit. His Blastoise did end up being a bit of trouble though. It took out Ivysaur with a sneaky Ice Beam, as well as taking out Pikachu with an Earthquake, and then eventually it took out Charizard.

"Well done Blastoise." Blue said to his Blastoise, "Time for my final Pokemon! Go Alakazam!"

"Charizard return." Red called, "Time to test this one out in battle. Go Dratini!"

As the light faded from around Dratini, Red got his very first look at Dratini. The most surprising thing was that Dratini was pink.

"What the?" Red asked confused, "What happened to my Dratini?"

"Holy crap," Blue said, "that's a shiny Dratini."

Red laughed as he realised what had happened. I'll have to thank Giovanni later, he thought to himself.

"Dratini! Dragonbreath!"

"Alakazam dodge it, use Teleport!"

Alakazam quickly disappeared and reappeared.

"Psychic!"

"Dratini, Dragon Rage!"

Dratini sent out a burst of fire, hitting Alakazam straight on.

The battle raged on between the two Pokemon, eventually ending in a double knockout.

"Well it seems Dratini is quite the strong Pokemon." Red said to himself.

"I still can't believe you're with Team Rocket."

"Shut up, you're worthless!" Red yelled before punching Blue in the face, "Get out of here before I kill you!"

Blue ran off.

Red stepped on the warp tile leading to the President's room.

Red appeared in the President's room. Red saw an old man sitting on a couch in front of Giovanni in quite a heated argument.

"You cannot!" The man yelled

"We must, in order to save the world." Giovanni responded

"I refuse to believe you are doing this to save the world. You are doing this to take over the world. Team Rocket is up to no good."

"How dare you accuse us of being evil. All we want to do is capture the legendary Pokemon in order to stop it from destroying the world."

"That legendary Pokemon has sealed itself away from the world! You just want to catch it in order to achieve world domination! We may have worked together years ago Giovanni, to create that monstrous Pokemon, but I refuse to help you anymore."

"Excuse me," a woman's voice said, "it appears we have a visitor."

Giovanni turned and saw Red.

"Well if it isn't my favourite Admin. What took you so long?"

"I ran into an old rival of mine. I beat him to a pulp with my Pokemon, especially that new one I was given."

Giovanni smiled, "I thought you might like it."

"Mr Silph, this is one of my Admins, Red. He has quickly climbed through our ranks and is a very powerful trainer, already owning 5 gym badges."

"And why is he here?" Mr Silph asked

"To help me negotiate." Giovanni said, "Red please send out your Pokemon."

Red sent out his Pokemon.

"Now, have your Ivysaur use Vine Whip to keep both Mr and Mrs Silph in their places, and then use your other Pokemon to negotiate."

Ivysaur held Mr and Mrs Silph together while his Pokemon unleashed a barrage of attacks on them. They both screamed as they were burnt, electrocuted, and attacked by Red's Pokemon.

"Fine. I give up" Mr Silph said, "here is our blueprints for the master ball."

Giovanni took the blueprints from Mr Silph and smiled.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you. Let's go Red."

Giovanni left and Red followed him.

"I'm going to get our scientists to create multiple copies of this Pokeball so that Team Rocket can capture all the strong Pokemon in the world. Meanwhile I'm going to send my admins out to find all the legendary Pokemon in Kanto. While they're doing that, I want you to continue with your Gym Challenge. I believe you only have 3 more badges to obtain, so please go to the gym here in Saffron City and defeat the Gym Leader. Once that has happened go straight to Cinnabar Island and defeat the Gym Leader there, then report back to headquarters. Agreed?"

"Sounds good." Red said and headed off toward the Gym.

Chapter 7: The Truth

Red defeated Sabrina with ease, evolving his Ivysaur into Venusaur during the battle. Then on the way to Cinnabar Island his Dratini evolved into a Dragonair. Red arrived on Cinnabar Island and quickly defeated the Gym Leader Blaine.

"Alright Rocket, before you go back to headquarters, I think you should go visit the Pokemon Mansion, which is right next door to this gym, it may help provide you with some answers." Blaine said

"Okay, I'll go there." Red replied

Red made his way through the Pokemon Mansion, reading through all the diary entries. He finally came to the bottom floor of the Mansion and read the final piece of the diary.

'_Today we finally managed to create the perfect Pokemon. It is a monster unlike any other with devastating Psychic powers, as well as being super intelligent. However, it appears that our research failed. When the Pokemon, which we have named Mewtwo, woke from its slumber, it destroyed the place, killing many of our scientists. Oak and Fuji ran off to leave this all in the past. Silph is going back to his company, completely abandoning the project, and Blaine is going back to his Gym, although he agrees to help me occasionally. Today, I plan to travel across the region and create a group of followers called Team Rocket. I will use the power we obtain to defeat and capture that legendary Pokemon and take over the entire world. I will unite Kanto and create the strongest region the world has ever seen. Mewtwo is believed to have fled to Cerulean Cave, but who knows how long until it decides to use its power on the world. I need to capture it and control it, that power needs to be mine. I leave this diary here as a reminder of what used to be, but now I will go my own way to find my followers. Mark my words, one day I will capture that legendary Pokemon. Signed, G.'_

"So now you understand why Giovanni wanted the blueprints right?"

The voice made Red jump, he turned around and was face to face with Blaine.

"He wishes to capture Mewtwo, and with a pokeball that can't fail, surely he will be able to do that. I agree with Giovanni, that we should continue our research and obtain the goals we once set out to obtain, but he may have been a bit extreme. However, it is working and without you, I don't think he would have ever been able to do so. Anyway, I came here to give you this working copy of the master ball. I managed to create one perfect copy, as well as my research notes, so please take them back to your headquarters and give them to Giovanni."

Blaine handed Red the Master ball as well as a bunch of papers before turning around and leaving.

"Well, that explains a lot." Red said to himself before following Blaine and leaving. He arrived outside and sent out his Charizard to fly him back to Team Rocket headquarters. He walked into Giovanni's office.

"Well, I heard from Blaine that you defeated him in an all-out battle. He was quite impressed with you. He also told me about your trip to the Pokemon mansion. Does it make sense as to why Team Rocket exists now and what our purpose is for?"

Red nodded.

"No one else knows about the Mewtwo Project so please keep it to yourself. When the time comes, we will go and capture Mewtwo and take over the world."

"About that," Red said, "Blaine gave me this to give you, and these notes too."

Red handed Giovanni the Master ball and the research notes.

"Excellent. I knew I could count on Blaine." Giovanni said, "Now Red. I want you to rest up for a bit, go use our training facilities if you please. The Viridian City Gym isn't open so go get yourself stronger until then."

Red nodded and turned to leave.

"One more thing," Giovanni said, "You are being promoted again to the one and only Team Rocket Executive. You will now be the boss of everyone in Team Rocket except for me, including the Admin's. They will all listen to you without a question."

Red smiled, "Thank you Giovanni."

Red went down to the training facility where lots of Team Rocket grunts were battling. Red saw a few new faces, as well as a few old faces. He saw the Team Rocket grunt who he had battled on his first day glaring at him.

"Hey," Red said casually

"How did you ever become the executive? I am way stronger than you." The Rocket Grunt said

"Well I guess that just isn't the case."

"Listen, I've worked my ass off to become the top grunt, just look at the leader boards up there. I am the strongest Rocket grunt and now I just need Giovanni to notice me so he can give me the promotion I deserve. So how about you battle through all these grunts and then battle me, if you can't defeat me, or any of these grunts, then you don't deserve to be executive, and if I beat you then there's no way I can't be promoted."

Red shrugged, beating these grunts would be easy.

Red defeated all the grunts without any trouble, sweeping all of them in one attack.

"Guess you're up then." He said to the top grunt.

"I'm going to destroy you! Raticate go!"

"Still using your pathetic Raticate? I'll show you a real Pokemon. Go Dragonair!"

Red's shiny Dragonair appeared from its Pokeball and all the grunts gasped.

"This was given to me by Giovanni himself as a special gift, so good luck."

"I'll destroy you! Raticate, Hyper Fang!"

Raticate charged at Dragonair and bit down hard. Suddenly a white glow surrounded Dragonair and its shape changed. Standing in its place was a Dragonite instead.

Red laughed, "thanks for that. Now Dragonite! Dragon Claw!"

Dragonite's attack hit Raticate, sending it flying and knocking it out.

"You are a pathetic excuse for a Team Rocket grunt. I'm going to become the most powerful trainer in the world, even more powerful than Giovanni himself. Then I will help Giovanni to dominate the world and Team Rocket will forever live on. Don't ever try to challenge me again."

The grunt just stood in place, jaw almost to the floor as he looked between Red and his fainted Raticate.

"Red we need you in Giovanni's office." Ariana said through the phone.

Red arrived in Giovanni's office.

"Red, I have an important mission for you. We have managed to find the location of 2 of the legendary birds, Articuno and Zapdos. I need you to go to the Power Plant and meet Archer there, deliver this Masterball to him that our scientists made, then take this other Masterball to Seafoam Islands and meet Petrel there, then report back to me.

Red arrived at the Power Plant where he found Archer. He handed Archer the Masterball.

"Stand back and watch." Archer said. Archer let off a flare inside the Power Plant and seconds later they heard a loud cry. Zapdos appeared from inside the Power Plant and Archer immediately threw the Masterball, capturing Zapdos.

"I shall return to Headquarters to give this magnificent creature to Giovanni, you should hurry and get going to the Seafoam Islands."

Red sent out his Charizard and flew off to the Seafoam Islands. When he arrived, he met Petrel, once again he handed the Masterball over.

"I'm going to have to venture deep into this cave to find Articuno, but it is definitely here. Go back to headquarters and tell Giovanni that I will come back successfully very soon."

Petrel walked inside the massive cave before them.

Red's phone began to ring.

"Red, this is an emergency. I need you to fly to Cerulean City and enter the Cerulean Cave. Giovanni went in there not too long ago but now we've lost his signal." Ariana said urgently.

Red immediately hopped on his Charizard and ventured to Cerulean Cave.

Chapter 8: Mewtwo

Red arrived just outside Cerulean Cave.

"Hey! You can't go in there!" a trainer yelled at him, "only the Champion is allowed in here."

"Then why is there a man already in there?" Red asked

The trainer said nothing.

"Exactly. I'm going in."

"No! Stop!"

"Charizard let's go! Use Flamethrower!"

The trainer screamed and fell to the ground in agony.

"Return Charizard."  
Red entered the cave, leaving the trainer screaming on the ground.

Inside Red travelled through a maze until he finally found Giovanni. He was on the ground, barely moving.

"Giovanni!" Red yelled

"Red! Stay back! You cannot defeat this Pokemon. It took me out without even breaking a sweat."

"What about the Masterball?" Red asked

"This Pokemon doesn't let down it's guard unless defeated. You cannot capture it because it is too powerful to be defeated. Leave while you can."

"I cannot allow that to happen" A voice boomed, echoing off the walls

"What's that?" Red asked alarmed

"It's here. Red you foolish boy, you should not have followed me here."

Suddenly a Pokemon appeared in front of Red, towering over him.

"My name is Mewtwo. I was created as an experiment by this vile man and his colleagues as a way to take over the world. When I realised what I was made for I destroyed their lab and came here. I have no desire to be used by humans and I will never let a human capture me."

"We will see about that. Go Pikachu!"

"What is this weak Pokemon supposed to do?" Mewtwo asked

"Pikachu Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu released its Thunderbolt, directly hitting Mewtwo. Mewtwo laughed.

"You call that a Thunderbolt?" it asked, "I'll show you a Thunderbolt!"

Mewtwo fired back a Thunderbolt, directly hitting Pikachu, knocking it out instantly.

"Return Pikachu! Go Venusaur! Use Razor Leaf!"

Venusaur fired its Razor Leaf at Mewtwo, but its attack was stopped mid-air. The leaves fell to the ground, and Venusaur was lifted off the ground. Mewtwo flicked its hand and Venusaur flew into the wall behind it, fainting.

"Go Blastoise!" Red yelled, "Hydro Pump!"

Blastoise released its Hydro Pump, knocking Mewtwo into the wall behind it, finally dealing some damage.

"Red watch out for its Recover!" Giovanni yelled

Mewtwo immediately began to heal its wounds.

"Oh no." Red gasped

Mewtwo then released a Thunderbolt attack, knocking out Blastoise.

"Go! Charizard!"

Charizard appeared from its Pokeball, snorting hot air out as it prepared to battle. Mewtwo. Unleased a Thunderbolt attack.

"Charizard! Fly up and dodge it!"

Charizard dodged the attack.

"Now Flamethrower!"

Charizard sent a Flamethrower flying toward Mewtwo, but Mewtwo countered with its own Flamethrower. The two attacks collided mid-air, cancelling each other out.

"Dragon Claw!"

Charizard flew toward Mewtwo with astonishing speed but was stopped just short of Mewtwo. Mewtwo flicked its wrist and sent Charizard flying into a wall, the same way it had to Blastoise. Charizard fell to floor but got up almost straight away.

"Fire Blast!"

Charizard unleashed its powerful Fire Blast. Mewtwo tried to counter with Flamethrower, but it wasn't strong enough. The Flamethrower added to the power of the Fire Blast and hit Mewtwo directly. Mewtwo let out a harsh cry.

"Don't let it recover Charizard! Dragon Claw!"

Charizard flew toward Mewtwo as it tried to Recover, but Charizard got there first, knocking Mewtwo back with its powerful Dragon Claw.

"And again!"

Charizard flew after Mewtwo, but this time Mewtwo got the better of it. It unleashed a Thunderbolt attack, hitting Charizard directly, knocking it out.

Red swore under his breath. He only had one more Pokemon left.

"Go Dragonite!"

Dragonite appeared and let out a deep cry.

"Dragonite! Extreme Speed!"

Dragonite took off with astonishing speed, hitting Mewtwo before it could even react.

"Now Dragon Pulse!"

Dragonite unleased a terrifying Dragon Pulse attack, once again hitting Mewtwo directly.

"Dragon Claw!"

Dragonite flew toward Mewtwo but was stopped by its Psychic attack. Instead of flicking its wrist like it had against Charizard and Blastoise, Mewtwo held Dragonite in its place and unleashed an Ice Beam attack. Dragonite flew backward, taking substantial damage, one more attack like that and it would be over.

"Dragonite! Finish this! Extreme Speed!"

Dragonite once again flew off toward Mewtwo. If this attack hit it would be the end. Time seemed to slow down for Red, he saw Dragonite inch closer and closer to Mewtwo. As it got closer Red realised, he was about to win. But then suddenly, when Dragonite was a few metres away from Mewtwo it was stopped by Psychic.

"No!" Red yelled

Dragonite struggled as it knew what was coming next.

"Dragonite!" Red yelled

Dragonite roared and shattered through Mewtwo's Psychic. Hitting it directly and knocking it out.

"Yes Dragonite!" Red yelled

"Red! Don't relax! Hurry up and capture it!" Giovanni yelled, throwing his Masterball to Red.

Red picked up the Masterball and threw it at Mewtwo. Mewtwo went inside the Pokeball and was caught. Red picked up the pokeball and ran over to Giovanni.

"We need to get you help!" Red said, reaching for his phone.

"All Team Rocket admins come in! Giovanni is in critical condition and he needs help. Come to Cerulean Cave immediately."

Red turned to his Dragonite, "I need you to help me carry Giovanni out of this cave."

Dragonite agreed and put Giovanni on its back.

"Let's go!" Red yelled, running back through the cave.

When they emerged, a Team Rocket helicopter was waiting outside the cave.

"We brought the best doctors we have," Archer said, "They are inside this helicopter, please get Giovanni inside."

Dragonite put Giovanni inside the helicopter and watched as it took off, flying toward headquarters.

"I guess it's time we head back then." Red said as he got on his Dragonite and followed the helicopter.

A few days later, Giovanni had healed up and was back to his old self. In the time he had been out, Team Rocket had been able to locate Moltres and successfully capture it. Red was called into Giovanni's room.

"Red, as you know, you were able to do what I was unable to do and that is capture Mewtwo. As of today, I will resign as Team Rocket boss, and allow you take that roll."

"No." Red said, "Team Rocket was your dream, and under you they wouldn't have gotten as far as they did, so we need you to be our leader."


End file.
